50 per cent of Indian smartphone users do not have data connection

New Delhi: According to a new study conducted by Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights, an alliance between Nielsen and Informate Mobile Intelligence, only half of the smartphone users polled have active data access. It means that over half of Indian smartphone users are underutilising their phones.

It is interesting to note that the youth are quick to adopt data connectivity on their smartphones, as more than half of all data users are younger than 25.

Youth are quick to adopt data connectivity on their smartphones, as more than half of all data users are younger than 25.

Besides, the Indian Smartphone user study found that smartphone users in India overwhelmingly prefer mobile devices that operate on the Android operating system, which highlights Indian consumers' desire for a platform that is open and available across multiple brands and prices.

While Symbian usage is also high in India, Windows, BlackBerry and iOS devices each only have single-digit market shares. The study also found that 93 per cent of smartphone users own only one handset, making it their single source of infotainment on the go.

Consumer interest in tablets is also on the rise. While only 3 per cent of respondents who participated in the study in the last quarter of 2012 said they owned a tablet, 11 per cent said they intended to purchase one.

The study found that voice and text communication via smartphone in India is declining. In fact, voice calls and texting accounted for only 25 percent of smartphone usage; multimedia, games, apps and Internet browsing made up the rest. Among apps, consumers prefer games, particularly with respect to paid apps. Games were the most popular category among paid apps, with nearly three out of five users (58%) paying for games. Other popular paid app categories among smartphone users include chat and instant messaging (53%) and streaming music (45%).

The Indian Smartphone User study was conducted in September and October 2012 across 46 cities in India. Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights polled more than 10,000 smartphone owners as part of this study.